Colin Urquhart
Colin Leonard Richard Spencer Alexander James Niles Bruce Urquhart (b. July 18, 1962) is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa. Prior to his current position, he was Governor of Rhodesia, and before that, he taught European History at the University of Rhodesia. Biography Background Urquhart was born to Francis and Betsie Urquhart in Salisbury. His father, a well-to-do surgeon, was the son of Scottish missionaries, and his mother, a liberal Afrikaner, was a school teacher. Both of his parents were smart, ambitious, popular people, well-liked throughout Salisbury by whites and blacks alike. Urquhart was also well-liked, and he was a popular child. He excelled in sports, tirelessly defended weaker children from bullies, and was admired for his uncompromising principles, honesty, and colorblindedness. He had friends of every race, color, and creed, and as a young boy, learned to fluently speak Shona. Growing up His true love, though, was history, a subject at which he excelled; even as a young man, he knew that this was the field he wanted to pursue someday. In high school, he was captain of the rugby team, dated steadily, and was valedictorian of the class of 1980. He won a full scholarship to study at Stellenbosch University, where he studied European History (his major) and French (his minor). It was there that he met a foreign exchange student, the beautiful Asami Haruna. After working up the nerve to ask her out, he did so, and shortly afterwards, they fell in love. They were married in the summer of 1984, shortly after Urquhart obtained his bachelor degree. Early career After the birth of his first son, Winston, in fall 1984, they moved to Salisbury, where he taught European history at the University of Rhodesia; at the same time, he worked on his master's degree, which he obtained a year and a half later, after which he began teaching full time. He was a favorite of his students, due to his sense of humor, inexhaustible knowledge, and ability to teach even the most boring things in such a way as to leave his audience spellbound. However, he would not stay a teacher forever; after a casual, half-joking remark by a friend during a local election, Urquhart was bitten by the statesman bug and decided to venture into politics. Politician He campaigned for Mayor of Salisbury in 1988 on the United Party ticket on an anti-crime, anti-corruption, pro-reform platform. Many of his campaign workers were former students of his. He handily won 64% of the popular vote, and became mayor. During his tenure, unemployment and crime reached their lowest levels in many decades. Urquhart was known for his engaging speeches, commitment to his principles and to his word, his plain-talking, modest image, and his enormous capacity for hard work. Friends and foes alike clamored for him to run for re-election, but Urquhart set his sights higher than that, and in 1993, he campaigned for - and won - the governorship of Rhodesia, a position he held until 2007. His legacy as governor was remarkable: At the time of his retirement, Rhodesia had the second highest per capita income in the entire country; the lowest crime rate; the lowest rate of illiteracy; and a low and continually declining unemployment rate. In a 2006 poll, Rhodesians of all colors overwhelmingly voted him "the greatest Rhodesian governor" in history. Birth of the CASA In 2007, with disillusionment with both the Smuts government and the opposition African National Congress growing steadily, Urquhart arranged a meeting with several fellow center-right politicians from various parties - ranging from paleoconservatives to classical liberals to libertarians - to discuss forming a united front against the two. After careful wrangling and savvy negotiating, he was able to work out a compromise between the various parties, uniting them into the Conservative Alliance of South Africa, committed to "freer markets, freer society, freer people, and a freer country." The CASA went on to bury the other parties in a landslide, and the new Prime Minister, Festus Mogae, appointed Urquhart foreign minister. Foreign ministry to be added Personal life and trivia In addition to Winston, Urquhart's other chilren are Louis (b. 1986), Anna (b. 1988), and Marie (b. 1993). He and Asami remain happily married and are the proud owners of a cocker spaniel named Jack and a cat named Cecil. Urquhart's hobbies are chess, hunting, fishing, swimming, rugby, and reading (mostly non-fiction). Urquhart is a fifth cousin once-removed of former governor Ian D. Smith. On his office wall are portraits of Frederick the Great, Winston Churchill, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, and Ian Smith. Urquhart, Colin